


The Fear In My Bones

by helo572



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, Near Death Experiences, Platonic Relationships, Trust, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-26
Updated: 2016-11-26
Packaged: 2018-09-01 02:09:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8603110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helo572/pseuds/helo572
Summary: A surveillance mission goes wrong, Jesse and Gabriel are ratted out by local thugs who chase them through their watchpoint - a tall, dangerous skyscraper.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is McReyes week day 3, prompt: trust. Check out other works or join in the fun at the [McReyes Week 2016 Tumblr](http://mcreyesweek.tumblr.com/)!

Reyes peers down at him, brown eyes piercing and demanding. He’s braced firmly into the railing on his stomach, one hand dangling down as Jesse’s lifeline from plummeting to his death. The other is white-knuckled on the pole to stop himself for slipping to the same demise.

 

“Don’t let go,” Jesse bleats, as the thug’s faces appear also, three ugly mugs staring down at them both in contemplation of who to kill first, probably. They are adorned in gang colors, a trio of sore thumbs, who probably hadn’t expected Reyes to go after his subordinate when thrown from the top of the building. “Please, boss, please--”

 

His legs kick uselessly at the side of the building, trying to find purchase, but he sways there as if encouraged by the wind whipping around his ears. Reyes looks grim at Jesse’s futile attempts, eyes dropping to the ground hundreds of stories below.

 

They are a way up, a vantage point for a night op, surveillance of the local harbour where illegal arms deals are being conducted. Except, mentioned arm dealers -- the local gang -- had caught wind of their nest on the one hundred and twenty-eighth floor. A pursuit, a firefight, Jesse hesitated and Reyes swept in the king he is.

 

“Please--” he gasps one last time, squeezing the hand clasped onto his own, fingers a death-grip on Reyes’ arm. “Don’t--”

 

“Quiet, kid,” Reyes growls low, Jesse recoils and gulps, Reyes squeezes back. He huffs over his shoulder, louder, “You bastards gonna wait for me to let go, or what?”

 

The thugs look offended at the words, sharing glances. Jesse has to look away as the world swims, one of them toeing Gabriel hard in the side. The man’s face contorts in a grunt, the arm Jesse clings to shifting.

 

The gunslinger lets out a startled gasp. “ _Reyes_ , goddamn, fuck--”

 

“We got all night,” one of them returns in accented English, teasing, “ _Reyes._ That what your fuckboy said? Like one of them fuckin’ heroes? Reyes? I ain’t seen that name since the bloody war.”

 

Gabriel’s jaw twitches, eyes boring into Jesse’s, just _done_. The cowboy swallows, shaking his head, desperately and wordlessly, _Please. Please don’t let me die here._

 

“ _Cow_ boy, actually.” Reyes keeps looking at him, holding his gaze, and Jesse hopes to the goddamn moon and back it's something close to a promise: _No, never._ The answer makes the three thugs squint, Gabriel seems to know it. “You should see him with the full getup. Got a hat and everythin’.” The bastard _winks_ , Jesse wonders if he’s going to have a heart attack at the ripe old age of twenty-one.

 

One of the thugs peers down over the ledge, wind tugging at his orange-green hair, to check out his supposed getup. He snickers at Jesse, at the terrified look on his face. Gabriel mouths, _Trust me_.

 

“Fuck,” Jesse wheezes, squeezing his eyes closed, shaking his head, _can’t do it can’t do it can’t do it_ \--

 

Then, the world lurches dizzyingly quickly, Jesse slips out of Reyes’ grip with it. He lets out a shriek, “ _Gabriel--_ !” but the wind is knocked out of him instead, he slams into something _hard._ His head starts to ring, chest constricting as he gasps for breath that is not there. Eyes fly open to see orange and green whip past him, plummeting down, down--

 

Then: the ledge, Reyes’ combat boots. Before Jesse’s eyes is the side he previously dangled from, the top half of him thrown uselessly over the railing. He realises, heart hammering in his ears, that Gabriel had saved him.

 

 _Trust me_.

 

Now, his commanding officer is up, teeth bared as he navigates sloppy hand-to-hand from not three, but two, thugs. The other, Jesse realises with a wide-eyed glance over his shoulder, is no longer a problem. Somehow. Reyes disposes of them without breaking a sweat, while Jesse watches on in awe, dumbfounded and slightly -- completely -- out of it. Suddenly, two hands grasping his, he’s pulled over the side, rolled onto his back. Gabriel peers down at him, exactly like before, except now his brow is pinched in concern.

 

“Jesse? Kid?” A hand on his shoulder, a squeeze. _Trust me_.

 

“You saved me,” gasps Jesse. Gabriel’s face twitches in surprise, eyebrows quirking. “You fuckin’ saved my life, Gabriel Reyes--”

 

The bastard smiles, the one where he shows his teeth, one half of his mouth turned up in a smug grin. He doesn’t answer. Jesse just lies there, wind howling in his ears, gratitude and relief nesting in his chest like a ball of energy waiting to burst. Instead, gently, “You right to walk?”

 

“Y-Yeah, I think,” Jesse replies, mouth dry. Above him, Gabriel scoffs a laugh, shaking his head. Jesse swallows. “Thought you were gonna let my fat ass go, Gabe. _Fuck--_ ”

 

“Nah,” insists Reyes. “Me, I take care of my own. Not gonna let some punks get rid of you just yet.”

 

The words keep falling out of his mouth, “Fuck me, fucking fuck, fuck… saved my goddamn life, you _bastard-_ -”

 

Reyes offers him a hand up. Shaky limbs greet Jesse as he returns to his feet, swaying awkwardly, somehow ending up pressed to Gabriel’s side. Reyes loops Jesse’s arm around his shoulder, starts the both of them back inside, a slow and steady pace, like Gabriel’s voice as he answers, “And don’t you go forgetting it.”

 

 _Trust me_ , echoes in Jesse’s ears like a lingering chord, reverberating around the room as it settles like it's the end of a song.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading :)
> 
> Much love goes to Dirtyhands for beta reading!


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